Apartment 512
by PAK
Summary: Haru's growing infatuation with her building's maintenance man is causing her to do some pretty stupid stuff, mainly breaking almost everything in her apartment so that she has an excuse to see him. 8086


Title: Apartment 512

Fandom: Katekyo Hitman Reborn

Pairing: 8086, slight 5986

Prompt: From the tumblr blog Imagine Your OTP: Person A has just moved into a new apartment building. Person B is the maintenance person. Person A develops a huge crush on B after meeting them the first time, so they keep breaking little things around the apartment for person B to come over and fix. (OT3 bonus. Person C is the landlord.)

Standard Disclaimer Applied

A/N Ah yeah! Trying out something other than GokuHaru! I'm starting to become a Haru x Everyone shipper, so indulge me. Just a few notes about this piece! First, it's going to be. It's going to be a three part series, but I want more time to work on the other chapters. I'm also trying out a new style of writing, so hopefully that works out well!

Also, thank you to Pen Sil for being really helpful! She read what I had, gave me a few pointers, and helped me get more comfortable with writing these two (especially Yamamoto). You're the best! :D

* * *

Haru let out a breath as she examined her new apartment, the place she would be living in as she finished up her degree at the University.

Boxes were strewn about, her furniture was clumped together in the middle of her living room, and all the other rooms were empty. She had just moved in, and although she was excited to start a new chapter of her life as an adult, she wasn't looking forward to unpacking.

But Haru wasn't one to slack off, so she pulled her long brown hair back and got to work.

First she put away all the things that belonged in her kitchen, pots and pans and various other utensils, then stocked her bathroom with soaps and towels. She pushed her bookshelf against a wall, put away the boxes of books she owned, then set about trying to rearrange the furniture that took up space.

That's where she ran into a problem.

Haru wasn't weak, and she knew she had a particularly powerful right hook. But moving _all_ the furniture that she owned would be to be a bigger task than she could handle, and building some of it on her own was just as problematic. She hadn't realized that, once the moving men who helped her get it all in her apartment left, she would have to put it all in place.

She wished that her friend Kyoko was with her. But the sweet woman was away in Italy, visiting her friend Tsuna (although Haru firmly believed that Kyoko wanted something a little more than friendship. A person didn't travel to a far away foreign country for a "friend"). Her parents lived too far away to drive and help, and all her other friends were busy with their own lives. While she had been smart to hire a moving crew, she didn't think of the fact that she really needed someone to help her put all her stuff away.

Just as she was about to give up and keep everything she owned in the living room, someone knocked at the door.

"Who could it be?" Haru thought out loud to herself. She shuffled to the door, tiptoeing past the various boxes in her way. She looked through the peephole, but it wasn't anyone that she knew.

"Hello?" she greeted, opening the door.

"Yo!" a cheerful young man replied. He was tall, with messy black hair and hazel eye. He smile was very friendly, even though he didn't know Haru. "Are you the new tenant?"

"Hahi!" Haru exclaimed. "Yes, I am. Who are you?"

"I'm Yamamoto, the maintenance guy. I figured I'd come and see how you were holding up," he said cheerfully.

Haru was slightly taken aback. A very nice, very _handsome_ , man thought to see how she was doing? She was certainly flattered.

"Oh, I'm alright, thank you," she said, smiling up at him.

Yamamoto smiled right back but quirked his eyebrow when he peeked into her apartment. "Are you sure?" he asked. "That looks like a lot of work for one person."

"Haru can do it," she protested. Mentally she scolded herself for lying, and for reverting to her old habit of speaking in third person.

"Alright then," Yamamoto conceded, although he looked doubtful. "Well, I'll be around if you ever need help with your apartment. If you _really_ need me, I live on the fifth floor in 512. It was nice meeting you… Haru, was it?"

Haru nodded eagerly, liking the way her name sounded when he said it. "Nice to meet you," she said, offering her hand.

"Haha! Nice to meet you too," he agreed, taking his hand into her own. Haru noticed how much his were larger than hers', and how rough the skin of his palms were. "I'll see you around," he said in parting, pulling his hand away and waving goodbye.

Haru watched him leave, all the while admiring his broad shoulders and the way he moved. She went back into her apartment, closing the door behind her with a sigh.

She quickly began to berate herself. _Are you stupid?_ She asked herself. _He just offered to help you take care of all of this stuff! You're_ not _going to be able to set up that bed yourself_.

She rolled her eyes, then opened the door quickly and rushed down the hallway.

"Mr. Yamamoto!" she shouted. The maintenance man turned around from where he stood at the top of the stairs. "I lied," she admitted. "I have a lot of furniture to move and set up, and I could really use a hand if you're willing to help."

Yamamoto smiled. "Sure. I'll go get my toolbox and be up in a minute."

* * *

"Well," Yamamoto sighed, dusting off his hands as he stood up. "Looks like that's about it."

Haru wiped away at the beads of sweat that had gathered on her forehead and admired what they managed to do in a day. They had set up her bed and entertainment center and moved her heavy furniture, like her bedroom dresser and her sewing table. Resting her hands on her hips, she took a deep breath and nodded.

"Thank you _so_ much, Yamamoto," she told him. "I really appreciate this."

"Ah," he grinned, rubbing the back of his neck. "It's not a big deal. Just doing my job."

"Hahi! But still! I couldn't have done this on my own," she declared, leaning forward to put her hand on his forearm. "You really helped me!"

"Hm, really?" he replied, smiling at her in a way that made the butterflies in her stomach flutter. "You're welcome then."

They continued to look at each other for a moment and Haru's heart beat erratically. She looked away and dropped her hand, taking a step back while she fought against the pink blush on her cheeks.

"Well, uhm," she began, looking at the ground, avoiding his gaze. "Is there anything I can do to say thanks?"

"No, it's alright," he repeated. But his voice was softer, almost like he knew what she was doing, even if she didn't. When she looked up his face, though, he didn't seem any bit different.

 _Except there isn't a situation,_ she told herself. _You're just trying to_ subtly _flirt with him, that's all. There's no harm in that, right?_

"Well, you just spent the day helping me build and move furniture. I at least owe you something to eat," Haru insisted.

Yamamoto cocked his head to the side, looking as if he were contemplating the offer.

"Some dinner _would_ be nice," he confessed.

"Great!" she cheered, jumping up in victory. Yamamoto chuckled at her antics. "Do you know anything good?" she asked.

"Ah, well, I don't really eat out much," he admitted. "But my old man's sushi restaurant is nearby, if you're okay with a little walk."

"Oooh, sushi," Haru said, making an appreciative face. "That sounds gre-"

She was cut off by a phone ringing and reached into her pocket to make sure it was not her own. But no, the one being called was Yamamoto. He fumbled through his pockets in search of the device, then quickly answered it when he found it.

"Yo!" he greeted.

"Where the fuck are you?!" a voice shouted on the other line.

Haru's ears perked. Not only was that voice loud, it was familiar. She knew that it was her landlord, Hayato Gokudera, on the other line.

"Helping out Haru," Yamamoto said simply. He looked at her and winked conspiratorially. She blushed and grinned sheepishly at him.

"That stupid woman?" he growled.

"Hahi!" Haru huffed. "I'll have you now-"

She was about to launch into a speech on how she was a paying tenant and as thus deserved to be treated nicely, but Yamamoto held his finger to his mouth as a gesture for her to be quiet. She begrudgingly obliged.

"I need you to get in here, baseball idiot. The stupid water heater is acting up again, so I need you to take a look at it."

"Ah, actually I was about to-" Yamamoto began.

"I don't care!" Gokudera shouted. "It's six o'clock, you haven't been doing your job all day, and I need you to fix this fucking piece of _junk_ before no one in the building has hot water!"

"Okay, okay," he agreed, holding his hand up in a peaceful gesture even though his employer couldn't see. "I'll be down in a bit."

Yamamoto hung up and smiled at her apologetically. "Guess we'll just have to postpone that dinner."

"It's okay," Haru assured him, although she'd be lying if she said she wasn't slightly disappointed. "I'll just be indebted to you for the time being."

"Ah, I guess so."

Haru watched as he cleaned up his tools, then followed him to the door.

"I'll see you some other time," he said, waving good-bye.

"Yeah," she agreed. "Thank you again, Yamamoto."

"Please," he added. "We've known each other a whole day! I think you can call me Takeshi."

"O-Oh," she stammered out. "I don't know about that."

"No, really," he insisted. He lifted his hand up to ruffle her hair. His hand fell away and he smiled at her again. "After all, we're going to be seeing a lot of each other.

* * *

Haru went to bed later that night very tired. She had taken a quick shower to clean herself off (she was happy to note that the water was warm), called in for some take out, then collapsed on to her newly made bed.

 _Ah, what a day,_ she thought to herself. She went through a mental checklist of the things she still had to do, which was longer than she would have liked. But with the help of Yamamoto she certainly had gotten more done then what she would have been able to do on her own.

She sighed, thinking of the cute maintenance man that she had spent the day with.

He was very nice and friendly. Even though she hadn't known him before today, he treated her in a way that one might treat a friend that they had grown up with. Haru liked that about him, and the comfortable and relaxed feeling that he seemed to radiate.

She had gotten to know him a little. He had been the maintenance man for about a year, as a way to supplement his income while he played baseball in the minor leagues. His boss, Gokudera, was flexible enough to allow him to leave for away games, but still insisted that he do the same amount of work when he was home. Before he had come to this building he had done freelance work for various companies, doing everything from landscaping to restaurant management.

"Isn't it tiring though?" she asked him while they moved the dining table.

"A little, but I don't mind. As long as I can play baseball," he said with a passionate glint in his eye.

He hadn't been much of a student when he was younger, but he did well enough to stay on his school's team. His goal throughout all of high school was to join the major leagues, but like all dreams that took time.

"Chances are they'll sign me if I do well this season," he told her as he changed the light bulbs in the ceiling fan.

"That's amazing!" Haru exclaimed as she hooked up her television. "What team would you want to play for?"

"Hmm," he pondered, cocking his head to the side. "I'm actually hoping to be playing for the Namimori Foxes. I wouldn't want to be too far from my Dad."

So he cared for his Dad. In fact, her was especially close to the man, and the two had the kind of relationship that many parents worked to achieve with their children. Yamamoto didn't expressly say that, but she could tell that by the way he talked about his father.

Haru made a mental checklist of all of his good qualities. He was nice, friendly, and helpful, as well as good-looking and loving towards his family. She tried to think of any bad qualities, but aside from the fact that he seemed to know more than he let on when she made awkward attempts at flirting with him, she really didn't know him well enough to make that judgement.

Which meant, for the time being at least, he was perfect in Haru's eyes.

 _Oh no_ , Haru though, resting her face in the palms of her hands. _Haru's going to have a crush on him at this rate._


End file.
